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Firefighters are investigating the cause of a blaze that displaced 15 people in Brookline early Thursday morning in a building next door to one of the town’s fire stations.

The fire at 667-669 Washington Street was so close to the firehouse that it broke one of the windows, said Rob Ward, the chief of operations for the Brookline Fire Department.

Ward said the fire was reported just before 4 a.m. and when firefighters looked outside they saw the blaze and pulled a fire engine in front of the neighboring three-story building to fight the fire.

They knocked down the heavy fire of the two-alarm blaze within 30 minutes, he said.
All of the residents escaped unharmed. One firefighter suffered minor injuries and firefighters also rescued a cat from the building, Ward said.

Fire damage was extensive to the basement and first floors and the top two floors were damaged by smoke, Ward said. He said it could be a while until residents are allowed back into the first floor of the building.